A Very Normal Christmas
by Allen92909
Summary: Holidays were never really a priority in the Winchester family, but Sam got away. He had a new life at Stanford and an amazing girlfriend who planned to show him just what Christmas was all about. Dean could honestly have cared less about Christmas, especially now that his little brother wasn't around. A Christmas one shot that takes place during Sam's second year at Stanford.


Holidays were never really a priority in the Winchester family, but Sam got away. He had a new life at Stanford and an amazing girlfriend who planned to show him just what Christmas was all about. Dean could honestly have cared less about Christmas, especially now that his little brother wasn't around. A Supernatural Christmas fic that takes place during Sam's second year at Stanford.

**A/N:** I do not own Supernatural or any of it's characters.

I thought about what the holidays would have been like for Sam while at Stanford, especially once he was with Jess and this was what my mind came up with. I also wondered what Dean would do on holidays since he didn't have his brother there and sometimes didn't even have John around. It's a pretty long one shot. I just couldn't find a good place to split it into chapters, so I apologize for it being so long. Please enjoy and feel free to let me know your thoughts.

**DECEMBER 12th**

Sam walked through the grocery store putting things seemingly at random into his grocery cart...a 12 pack of root beer, a sack of flour, 3 cans of various Cambell's soup, a large container of kitchen salt, fresh lettuce and a tomato to go with it, and an 8 pack of toilet paper. He stopped briefly in the meat section to help an older lady lift a 25 pound turkey into her shopping cart, which he had no doubt was probably for a Christmas dinner. She gave him a '_thanks' _and a '_happy holidays' _and he mumbled a quick '_you too'_ before he moved along to the registers to pay for his things. He made one last glance back at the store before he headed out to his crappy, rusted out used car. The place looked like Christmas had thrown up all over it. There were garlands and wreaths all around the store, strings of colored lights around the main windows at the front of the store, and a huge tree set up near one of the entrances. He didn't understand everyone's fascination with decorating their homes and businesses for one month out of the year, but that was probably because he went so many years without doing so himself. It was hard to celebrate holidays, much less decorate for them when you never had a real home to celebrate them in.

He sighed before loading up the car and heading back to the apartment he shared with his girlfriend, Jess. This was their first Christmas together and he had no idea what kind of expectations she was going to have in regards to the holiday. He assumed her family was like most families and that they probably did the tree and the lights and all that festive décor for Christmas and he just wasn't sure if he wanted any of that. This was his second year in college and his second year without his family at his side. More importantly, it was his second year without his brother, the one who always made sure that they had a little something for Christmas...whether it be some random potted plant with ornaments on it, or just a stocking filled to the brim with skin mags and candy, or a few random gifts to pass around. And, his brother always knew which restaurants in their town of the week had a turkey dinner on Christmas, that's if there were even any restaurants open on Christmas. The Winchesters never had a normal Christmas and Sam wasn't even really sure what a normal Christmas was. So, the year before, when he was still living in the dorms, he closed himself off in his room for the holiday and caught up on his extracurricular reading between picking up extra shifts at the diner where he worked part time.

When Sam walked into the apartment he could hear Jess singing in the kitchen and he could smell something in the oven. She must have been cooking. He walked into the kitchen, setting the bags from the store on the table, nearly knocking a box off in the process.

"Hey, babe..." Jess smiled with a pan in hand. She'd just pulled it out of the oven. "Made my mom's lasagna. Hopefully, I didn't butcher it." She wasn't a bad cook per say, but her baking skills were definitely far above her other cooking skills.

Sam smiled back. "I'm sure it's fine." He started emptying the bags and placing the kitchen items where they went. "What's in the box on the table?" Jess froze for a moment and did this thing with her lips that Sam had seen many times before. He knew it meant she had something to say, but wasn't sure how to go about it. "Jess?"

"Right, it's a box from my mom. It's got some ornaments in it, a few were my grandmothers." She explained. She had the lasagna on the counter and began to cut into it. "I was thinking that maybe after dinner we could..." She trailed off, almost afraid to finish what she was about to say. She knew Sam wasn't big on holidays.

"We could what?" He opened the box and peeked in at a few of the colored ornaments, some newer and shinier, some older and probably hand painted. There was an array of shapes and sizes.

"We could get a Christmas tree. There's that lot down the street and..." She could see Sam's shoulders sink and knew instantly that he didn't like the idea of getting a tree. "And you don't want a tree, do you?"

Sam sighed and sat at the table. He couldn't even look at her as he replied, instead focusing his eyes on the outside of the ornament box where a piece of tape was torn in two. "It's not that I don't want a tree, it's just that I, we, never really did Christmas growing up or any holidays." He finally looked up. "I mean, thanksgiving was usually a bucket of extra crispy from KFC. We were never very religious, so we didn't even try to celebrate Easter, unless you count that year my brother went out and egged the neighborhood where we were living at the time."

"So you never had a tree or put up lights or hung stockings?" Jess asked. She almost couldn't believe it.

Sam gave a nervous laugh. "Does a potted plant with air fresheners hung on it count as a tree?"

"Uh, no." Jess said, walking over to him. She plopped on his lap. "I think it's time you have a real Christmas."

"I don't know Jess, I..." Sam tried to argue, but he was cut off.

"We're getting a tree." Jess was stern with her words, but then offered a soft smile "And maybe a couple of stockings, some lights..."

Sam sighed again. He knew better than to argue with Jess. "Fine, ok." Jess smiled and kissed him on the lips playfully before she went back to the lasagna and began to dish it out.

When they were done with dinner, they headed down the street to the lot that was selling real Christmas trees. They were getting a tree.

* * *

Dean wandered aimlessly through a quickie mart. He'd just finished a salt and burn and was covered in graveyard dirt. He scoffed at all the holiday décor around the place. It made him want to puke. Growing up, his family never really did holidays, but he and Sammy always tried to do a little something...whether it be exchanging cheesy gifts on Christmas or throwing up a random string of thrift store christmas lights to decorate their motel room for the holiday. Ever since Sammy left though, he'd been a real Ebeneezer Scrooge.

"Hey man, you gonna be long? We're closing up soon." An employee stepped out from behind the counter and eyed him up and down suspiciously.

Dean sighed. "No, I'll be quick." He said, moving back toward the cooler with beer. He grabbed a twelve pack and then made his way over to the snack aisle, grabbing a bag of peanut m&ms. He stopped briefly by the magazines, but was bummed to find out that they didn't have any skin mags. The old Busty Asian Beauties mag that he kept in the bottom of his duffle bag would have to do until he could get the next edition. It was given to him by Sam the Christmas before he left for Stanford and it was a special holiday edition of the magazine.

He made his way to the register, paid for his things, and quickly made a mad dash to the Impala. He checked his phone to see if his Dad had called at all, but there were no missed calls. He and his Dad had split up for a couple of hunts and he was hoping to meet up with him again for Christmas. Maybe they'd find a diner and have themselves a turkey dinner or maybe not. Holidays weren't exactly one of his Dad's priorities. He headed back to his motel room, where a shower was definitely in his future...so long as the hot water cooperated. He was in Michigan and the weather outside had been cold and wet.

Snowflakes began to fall as he pulled into a parking spot just outside his motel room. He cursed under his breath as he grabbed his bag from the quickie mart and headed inside. He wasted no time in getting a beer out, popping the top and taking a long swig. He kicked his boots off at the door and reached for the tv remote. He flipped the tv on for back ground noise as he started disrobing his dirty clothes. He stopped, eyes flicking to the tv for a moment when he heard a bell ring and realized that the station was playing one of Sammy's favorite Christmas movies, _It's a Wonderful Life. _Personally, he was more of a _Die Hard_ fan, but Sam always argued that it wasn't a real Christmas movie.

Dean reached for the remote one last time before his shower. He changed the channel, opting not to watch something that reminded him of his brother...the one who'd left them for greener pastures so to speak. He spent a long time under the warm spray of the shower, letting it wash all the dirt down the drain and then he plopped into bed with another beer and some m&ms, eventually falling asleep to reruns of _I Love Lucy._

* * *

**DECEMBER 13th**

Sun filtered into the apartment, basking their barren Christmas tree in a eery glow. Sam just stood and starred at it, not really sure what to do. He had the box of ornaments in his hand, but decorating a tree was so foreign to him.

Jess walked in behind him, a bag in hand. She'd been doing a bit of Christmas shopping that morning. "Hey, I got us a few other Christmas items." She said with a smile. Setting the bag on an end table nearby, she pulled out of it two stockings.

Sam's gaze followed her, eyes scrunching in confusion when he saw the stockings. Last time he checked, stockings usually hung from a mantle and they didn't have one. "Where are we supposed to hang those?" He asked.

"I haven't decided yet." Jess answered. "But look at this one..." She held one out for Sam to see. It was a red plaid pattern with a moose knitted onto it. "I thought it was perfect for you."

"Really, a moose?" He moved and set the ornament box down by her bag of Christmas things. "What's on yours?"

She held out the other stocking. It had the same red plaid, but hers had an angel knitted onto it. "An angel." She said, before setting the stockings aside and reaching into the bag again.

"Oh, so you think you're an angel huh?" He shot back playfully. "I don't believe it for one second."

Jess pulled a star out of the box, which Sam assumed was for the top of the tree. She shot him a mischievous grin. "Oh, I can be an angel when I want to be. You just prefer my darker, sexier side."

Sam smiled and put his arms around her, both of them facing the tree. "Yeah, sometimes." He rested his chin on her head for a moment. "I still don't know how I got so lucky."

Jess pulled away. "It wasn't luck, just Brady's matchmaking skills." She briefly remembered the first time she saw Sam. He was tall and gangly, looking like someone who was still getting used to his own body. If she had to guess, his height was new to him and he was still getting used to towering over everyone. She thought he was cute, but hadn't really given him much thought until their mutual friend Brady starting boasting about him. He had suggested they go out on a date and the two of them had been together ever since, falling deeper and deeper in love as the months went by.

Sam let out a small chuckle, a smile escaping his lips. "You might be right about that." He watched as Jess tried to reach the top of the tree with the star. "You wanna little help with that?"

She glanced back and matched his smile. "Well, you are as tall as the tree." She held out the star and he took it, quickly setting it on the top of the tree. She walked to her bag on the table and pulled out a strand of lights that she'd found at Good Will and cursed when she realized how tangled they were.

"Here, let me..." Sam walked over and helped her untangle the lights. Then together, they both wove the lights in and around the tree branches. Surprisingly enough, the strand worked and there wasn't a single bulb out.

Once the lights were secure, Jess handed out ornaments to Sam and they both finished decorating the tree. "Now was that so bad decorating the tree?" She asked, plopping down on the couch so she could bask in the joy of decorating their first tree together.

Sam let himself drop down next to her, his arm automatically going around her. He smiled faintly as he looked over the tree from top to bottom. The star was crooked and there was a spot in the branches where they probably could have spaced out the lights a little better, but he was actually kind of proud of their first Christmas tree. And, he didn't think he would even mind doing one again the next year too. "It was actually kind of fun." He admitted.

"I'm glad you had fun, but we haven't even gotten to the best part." She said.

"And what's that?" Sam wondered.

"The cookies and eggnog." Jess answered. "I thought I'd do a little baking this afternoon and then maybe tonight we'd watch our first Christmas movie. I have a whole list of movies to choose from."

"I could probably handle that." Sam said and not even a second later, Jess was pulling a folded paper out of her pants pocket. She unfolded it and handed it to him. "Oh..." He realized it was a list of movies.

"Now, my personal favorite is Christmas Vacation." Clark Griswold reminded Jess of her own Dad. No matter how hard he tried to make Christmas perfect each year, something always managed to go wrong. She looked up at Sam. "I'm guessing you probably don't have a favorite."

"Actually, one of my favorites is It's a Wonderful life." Sam replied. He spotted the movie _Die Hard_ on the list and his mind instantly wandered to his brother. What would Dean be doing for Christmas? Was he still with their Dad? Maybe they'd be on a hunt or maybe they'd find a motel somewhere near a diner that served a turkey dinner.

"We can watch that." Jess said.

"What about Die Hard?" Sam didn't know why he'd said it. He always argued with Dean that it wasn't really a Christmas movie, but part of him missed Dean and thought that watching the movie might make him feel closer to his brother...who was god only knew where this Christmas. He hadn't talked to him in almost a year.

"Oh, my Dad put that on the list." Jess answered. "We can watch it if you want, but first I have cookies to bake."

The rest of the day was spent making cookies, lots of cookies. Jess saved a batch to enjoy with their movie and the rest she boxed up to take to a local homeless shelter the next day.

* * *

**DECEMBER 17th**

Dean walked down the street from his motel in Des Moines, Iowa. There was a diner just a few buildings away. Of course, he hadn't counted on getting stuck in the middle of a group of Christmas carolers that were trying to raise money on behalf of some shelter so they could provide a festive holiday meal for the homeless that would be there on Christmas He mumbled a soft curse as he pushed his way through the people, all dressed in holiday themed sweaters and Santa hats and singing joyous holiday tunes. He garnered a nasty glare from one of them as he walked passed their collection jar without dropping in a cent.

Finally at the diner, he stepped inside and found a booth with a window so he could keep an eye on things outside and still have a clear view of the front door. The hunter in him never ceasing to slack off. The menu was simple and only had a few pages. He settled on some eggs, bacon, and hash browns.

The waitress was perky and all aglow in holiday cheer. She wore a Santa hat in contrast to her boring beige polo shirt, black pants, and black apron. "Hey there handsome. What can I get for you?" She asked, her smile contagious.

Dean let out a grin and eyed her up and down, taking in each curve of her body and the way her blonde curls hit her shoulder. He guessed that she'd probably look amazing in one of those sexy elf costumes. "Well that depends..." He said flirtatiously. "Are you on the menu?"

She smiled again. "I could be..."

An older man shouted from behind the counter. "Quit your flirting Hannah. You don't have to sleep with every boy that comes through this place."

Dean's eyes fell on the man. He looked like the fatherly type, but one of those stern fathers who kept a special eye out for his one and only little girl.

"Shut up, Dad." She snapped back. Her hand fell on Dean's. "Just ignore him."

So he was right...definitely the father. "Uh right..." He didn't want to cross a stern father. "I'll just have the two egg breakfast, with bacon."

"You sure that's all you want?" Hannah asked.

"Uh...well..." Dean was at a momentary loss for words. His lower brain was telling him that he wanted more, that he hadn't been laid in weeks, but his upper brains were screaming not to tempt fate with this one. He didn't want an angry father chasing after him with a shot gun. And that had actually happened once before when he'd gotten laid by a set of twins. They were these cute little red heads who had freckles for miles. Yeah, he found out the next morning that they had lied about their age and were still in high school. He'd only been a year older at the time, but their father wasn't all too happy. He'd barely avoided the man's shot gun as he ran for the Impala and sped away. "I think I'm good."

When the waitress brought his check, after he'd finished his meal, she left her number on the bottom of it "in case he changed his mind later." He scoffed at that. He had no plans on changing his mind, until of course, he found himself a drunken mess in his motel room later that night. He hadn't even realized he'd called her until he was reaching his climax and struggling to even his breathing after they'd slept together.

He shifted as much as he could on the bed, trying to find a comfortable spot and wondering why his movements were so constricted. He tried to open his mouth to speak, but felt something hard and rubbery against his tongue. _"What the hell..."_ His eyes fell on Hannah, who was sitting next to him with a grin on her face. She was holding his wallet and looking through it.

"It's been fun Dean Salizar, or is it Dean Winchester?" She flicked between his driver's license and the current credit card of the month, which both had different names. He pulled on his arms angrily, which she'd handcuffed to the head of the bed. "You know, my Dad says I shouldn't sleep around, but it's so much fun." She pulled out his cash, which only consisted of a few dollars. Luckily, he wasn't stupid enough to keep all his cash stuffed in his wallet. Most of it was in a secret pocket hidden in his duffel bag and a small chunk of cash was hidden in a bible tucked away in the trunk of the Impala. "Damn, it's a good thing I'm not here to rob you."

"Mmmm, na..." Dean struggled some more.

"Don't you worry..." She said. "I called someone to come and help you outta here. Don't know if he'll come, but I left him a nice little message about how his little boy was all trussed up and in a bit of a pickle."

She climbed off the bed and started pulling her clothes on. "Now my Daddy, he won't take too kindly to knowing you fucked his little girl, so if I were you, I wouldn't come back to the diner." She pulled her shirt on and walked to the door, letting in a few rays of sun and a bit of winter chill as she opened it. With one quick glance back, she offered a "Merry Christmas" before she closed the door and walked out of the room.

Dean panicked when she walked out, his arms struggling against the head board of the bed and his legs kicking out. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself so he could assess the situation. He realized first off that he was stark naked. His clothes strewn about the floor around the bed. His wallet was open and dumped out on the bed next to him. She'd gone through it, but didn't take anything. He also realized that he was gagged and that his arms had handcuffs at each wrist securing him to the bed. He couldn't remember exactly what had happened during the night, but he felt sticky between the legs and knew that they'd at least had sex. He didn't know who she'd called, but his cell phone was also sitting on the bed amongst the contents of his wallet. "Damn it!" He cursed aloud.

_'Da na na, da na na na, da na na na na' _The outer screen on his phone lit up and a small snippet of _Smoke on the Water _played. The display read _Dad_. It rang again and again before finally going to voice mail.

Dean cursed and began to inspect the handcuffs. He realized, now that he'd calmed down enough to think clearly and rationally, that Hannah hadn't put them on very tight and there was a little give to them. He bent his right thumb the right way and his wrist easily squeezed through. He reached for his wallet, where he had a paper clip hidden and made quick work of using it to free his other wrist. Then, it was just a matter of removing the gag, which was just a simple ball gag.

He huffed when he was done and picked up the phone, immediately dialing his father. John answered on the first ring.

"_Dean?"_

"Hey, Dad." He replied sheepishly.

"_What the hell's going on? I got some message from a girl and..."_

"Yeah, uh..." Dean was embarrassed about the situation and didn't really want to explain everything to his Dad, so he had to think of something quick to tell him. "It's nothing you need to worry about. I'm fine."

"_Some girl calls and says that my boys tied up and you don't think it's something I have to worry about?"_

"Look Dad, it was just a one night stand gone wrong, but I'm fine." Dean tried to explain. He really didn't want to get into details.

"_What did I tell you about sleeping around?"_

His father sounded a little angry and he didn't really blame the guy. "That I was probably gonna get shot by a husband or some girls old man." He answered.

"_And have you learned your lesson yet?"_

"No, I guess not."

"_Damn it, Dean. I left Caleb in the middle of a hunt to try and call you..."_

John really sounded angry now. "I'm sorry sir." Dean said like a good little soldier. "I promise to be more careful in the future."

"_You better be or so help me god..."_

"I will, sir."

"_Good, now I better get back out there before something happens to Caleb."_

"Wait Dad..." Dean tried to stop him before he hung up. "You gonna be around for Christmas?"

The line was silent for a moment. _"Look, son. I got a lead on the demon and I don't think I'll be able to meet up for Christmas."_

Of course, by _the demon, _he knew his father meant the demon that had killed their mother all those years ago in his brother's nursery. They'd been hunting that thing for what felt like an eternity.

"_I'm sorry, but I'll call when I can meet up again."_

A second later, the line went dead.

So, it looked like Dean would be spending Christmas alone. Wasn't that just fan frickin tastic? It just made him hate the holidays even more. He dressed quickly and started cleaning up the place. It was time to move on, especially after what happened with diner girl. He didn't even want to think about her again. He could just imagine what Sammy would say if he knew what had happened. Sam was always the more guarded one when it came to girls. He wasn't a real ladies man.

Dean sighed. Thinking about his brother made something in his chest ache...maybe his heart, but he'd never admit that, not even to himself. "Damn, Sammy. I hope your having a nice life." He grumbled as he started loading up his things into the Impala. He had no idea where he was going next, but he got on the road anyways and left Iowa in the dust.

* * *

**DECEMBER 19th**

Sam was slowly getting into the holiday spirit. Maybe it was because the apartment was all decorated or maybe it was all the Christmas cookies and eggnog that Jess was filling him up with. Maybe it was just the fact that he had someone cheerful that he also happened to love by his side for the holiday. He didn't think he'd ever have a normal Christmas, but now he was sure that's what Jess was giving him. She was planning a turkey dinner on Christmas day and sharing traditions with him from her family, such as the reading each year of _Twas the Night Before Christmas_ and the countdown to Christmas with various holiday movies from her list, and the baking of Christmas cookies and the donating of time, food, and gifts to the local homeless shelter for Christmas. He wondered if this was what Christmas would have been like if his mother was still alive, but he'd never have the chance to know.

He smiled as Jess pranced around the apartment in nothing but a neglige and a santa hat while she cleaned. She didn't normally wear that kind of outfit for cleaning the apartment and he usually helped, would have been if not for being so enraptured in her beauty. He couldn't help himself as he stopped and stared at her mesmerizing movements. Her body flowed perfectly and her ample breasts bounced merrily as she moved. She had a glow about her that radiated out and touched him, pulling him closer and closer until he was standing next to her and taking the broom out of her hand. "I think the bed needs a good cleaning." He said, instantly regretting his words. _"Real smooth, Winchester."_ He thought to himself. Pick up lines were never his specialty. That was always Dean's area of expertise.

"Oh really?" Jess shot back with a sly grin. "Well, maybe we should clean it together." She took his hand in hers and lead him back to the bedroom. As she guided him onto the bed she added, "I was wondering how long it would take you to make a move after I put this on." She was referring to her outfit.

Sam gave a sheepish grin back. "You know, I never have been all that great with women and..."

Jess put a finger to his lips to shush him. "Less talking, more love making." She moved her other hand and pulled down one of the straps from her neglige.

Sam felt a hunger inside himself and unleashed it, quickly flipping jess back onto the bed and pinning her down instead. He pulled the other strap to her neglige down and slid it off her entirely, exposing her full sensual body. His lips started on her neck, kissing their way down her body, lingering for a time on her perky breasts. He kissed all the way down to her lady parts and then, they made wild and passionate love.

* * *

Dean had finished another case in Iowa, this one in another part of the state. He pulled into a local Firestone and walked into the display room, eying a specific rack of new tires. He had no one to buy a Christmas gift for this year, so he was going to spoil his baby. She needed a new set of wheels. The tread was nearly warn to nothing on her old tires and they had little to no traction in the winter weather.

"Can I help you?" A salesman, who was an older gentleman with a Santa hat on, approached him.

Dean looked up at the man. "I'm looking to get my girl a new set of tires for Christmas." He said.

"Well, I don't want to sway a tire sale, but lemme give you just a little advice." The guy replied. "Girls really love jewelry or anything sparkly. Got my wife tires one year for Christmas and she wasn't all to happy."

"Woah, wait a minute..." Dean stepped back. "No, my girl..." He turned towards the front window and pointed outside. "she's that '67 Impala out there."

The man glanced out where Dean was pointing and suddenly got red in the face. "Oh, I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. I thought you meant..."

Dean cut him off. "Yeah, I get what you meant. Look, I just need a set of two o-five seventy R fifteens."

"Right, I think we can get you those." The man said.

"I'd prefer something that can handle the snow a little better. My Dad bought the last tires on her and I think he was a little cheap with em." Dean explained.

"We've got some all weather options we can see about." The man lead him over to a counter where there was a computer. He typed in a few things and pulled something up on the screen. "I've got a great set of all weather ones for $425. And with our holiday deal, you get free rotation and installation. We will even dispose of the old tires."

Dean let out a small smile. "Sounds good to me, how soon can we get them on?"

"We've been pretty busy the last few days, but I could probably get you in first thing in the AM if you'd like to come back." The man informed him.

"I could swing that." Dean shot back.

"Alright, I just need payment and we can get you all squared away." He eyed Dean, waiting to see how payment would be made.

"Right..." Dean pulled out his wallet and slide out a credit card. He glanced at it for a moment, making sure it was the right one. He had two and one he used specifically for gas and hotels and the other was for miscellaneous items. He handed it over a second later.

The man eyed the card suspiciously. "Ok, Dean Tam-a-gotchi." He pronounced the last name slowly, not really sure if he was saying it correctly. The name sounded Asian, but his customer didn't look Asian. He slid the card, half expecting it not to work or to ping back that it was flagged. Flagged cards were usually stolen cards. It did neither though and the transaction completed in a matter of moments. The receipt printed and he had Dean Tamagotchi sign it, as well as another paper with information on the tires that were being purchased. "It looks like we've got everything squared away and I'll see you in the morning.

Dean walked out of the tire store with a paper in hand, his receipt for the tires. He slid his hand along baby as he walked to the driver's side door. "Merry Christmas, Baby." He said as he sank down in to his seat at the steering wheel. "Looks like it's just you and me this year."

* * *

**December 22nd**

Sam cleared the corner booth in the back of the restaurant where he worked. He was wiping it down with a dishrag when a group of college kids came bustling in and headed straight towards him. He didn't know any of the kids, but figured they must have family in the area. The restaurant was right on campus and they didn't get a lot of student business around the holidays, since most of the students went home for the holidays. "It's gonna be another minute before I'm done cleaning here." He tried to say to the group, hoping they could wait long enough for him to actually wipe down the table.

"Eh, it's good enough man." One of the guys said, scooting into the booth.

"Uck, but there's still food..." A girl, probably the guy's girlfriend started to say.

The guy grabbed the girl and pulled her into the booth. "Just shut up and sit your ass down." He glanced up at Sam, who was knelt on the seat in the other side of the booth. "You gonna move so my friends can sit?" There were two other guys and another girl.

"Yeah sure, whatever." Sam answered. He grabbed his dish rag and the tray of dirty plates that he had sitting on the seat next to him.

"Hey," One of the other guys started, eying Sam with clenched fists. This guy was a few inches shorter than Sam, but had twice the muscles. He was probably some kind of body builder in his spare time. "You given my boy attitude?"

Sam shook his head. "No sir..." He stepped around him. "You all enjoy your meal." He was glad his boss had him just clearing tables that day. He didn't think he could handle serving that table. No, that task would go to Melissa, the sweetest and kindest employee they had. She was full of holiday cheer and wore a fun Christmas sweater over her work shirt. The corner booth was in her section. He warned her about the group before he moved on to clean some of the other tables.

Throughout the rest of his shift, he kept cleaning tables and didn't give the corner table much thought. His only focus was finishing up so he could get home to Jess. She had something holiday themed planned for them that evening, but he had no clue what it was. He just knew that as long as it didn't involve clowns or creepy elves, he'd be fine with whatever she had planned.

* * *

Dean drove into Kenosha, WI that afternoon. There was a possible witch hunt in the area and he hated witches. He figured he'd take his time on the hunt though, doing his research those few days until Christmas and then make his move after Christmas. And damn the research. Sammy was always better at that. He'd give the research his best shot though, after he hustled him up a little extra cash.

It was early evening when he strolled into the smokey bar. To the left were two pool tables and a dart board, with a few tables and stools set out. To the right were more tables and the bar itself. There were a few Christmas decorations throughout the place, but nothing too overwhelming. There was a group by the pool tables, all college age guys, and then random people hanging around the rest of the bar. He walked to the bar and ordered a drink...whatever beer was on tap. He sipped it slowly while he watched the guys at the pool tables. Oh, they were playing good, but he was better and he knew he could easily get some cash out of them.

He finished his beer and ordered another before he headed over to the pool tables. He pretended to stumble, letting a few drops of beer slosh out of his glass at one of the guy's feet. "Woah, sorry man." He mumbled, without even a glance at the guy.

"What the fuck man..." The guy shot back.

Dean finally looked up. "I said sorry man." He repeated.

One of the other guys chimed in. "He did say he was sorry." He said with a sarcastic tone.

"I've probly had too much to drink," Dean purposely slurred one of the words. "And I didn't meanta mess up yer game."

The guy shot a look at the pool table and then back at Dean. "You play much pool?" He asked.

Dean had to hold back a triumphant smirk. He was planning on hustling the guys, but had them thinking they were going to hustle him. He looked at the table and then the guys surrounding it. "Played a little, but I'm not so good when I've had a few."

"Awe, I bet you haven't had too many drinks." One of the others said.

"Yeah, why don't you join us." The first guy suggested. "Maybe we can even make it interesting and wager some money."

"Well, I only got here like fifty bucks." Dean said, pulling out his wallet and digging out some crinkled bills. "And I'm noso sure it's a good idea."

"We can do fifty." One of the other guys said, dropping a $50 bill on the table. "Come on, man. Just relax and have some fun."

"Alright, sure." He gave in and slapped his wrinkled money on the table with theirs. He started out the game, breaking the balls and sinking two, but purposely played the rest of it like a semi drunken idiot who had no idea what he was really doing. They'd easily kicked his ass.

"Looks like we beat you fair and square." One of them said with a sly grin, proud of the money he'd won.

"How bout another." Dean suggested, taking a final sip of his beer.

"Thought you didn't have any more money?" The guy shot back, pocketing his winnings.

"I can get some." He said, with a nod towards the ATM machine on the far back wall near the bathrooms. "Jus gimme a chance to win back my money." He was still purposely slurring his words a little.

The guy laughed. "Yeah sure, whatever man."

Dean walked to the ATM machine and pretended like he was getting money out. Then, when he made certain the guys weren't looking his direction, he reached down to his boot and pulled out another handful of cash. He took two one hundred dollar bills and put the rest back. He wandered back over to them and set the money on the table. "Got two hundred." He declared.

"Hope your not bettin' all that." One of the guys said, looking up from his drink. "That's a lot of money."

"What, you worried about losing?" Dean shot back with a grin.

"No, of course not." He replied. "Let's play."

Later that evening, he walked out of the bar with an extra $600 in his wallet and a group of angry college guys threatening to come after him for hustling them. He smiled as he climbed into the Impala and drove to the motel he'd scoped out earlier. He'd be getting himself a real nice room for the next couple of nights...one with clean, smell free carpets, sheets that weren't stained with bodily fluids, and a bathroom so clean you could lick the tiles, with plenty of hot water to go around and pipes that didn't clatter.

* * *

Sam and Jess shared his rust bucket of a car and she'd made plans for them after he finished at the diner for the day. Jess had insisted she do the driving. It was almost dark when they reached their destination. It was a neighborhood across the bay that he'd never been too. All the houses were a lit with lights and various Christmas lawn ornaments. It was a struggle to park because apparently, the neighborhood was a popular destination around the holidays.

"So, what do you think?" Jess asked, giving Sam a quick glance.

He eyed Jessica, taking in her festive outfit, before he glanced back at some of the festive houses. It was far from cold out, but she wore plain blue jeans and a green t-shirt, paired with a Santa hat and the most ridiculous Christmas scarf he'd ever seen. She'd almost worn an ugly holiday sweater, but told him that she was saving that for Christmas day. "It's a lot." He said, finding all the decorations a bit overwhelming. He knew, given how well decorated some of the houses were, that it had to take hours or maybe even days of time to finish and that was on top of the time it took to decorate the inside of the home. It had taken them a whole morning to decorate their apartment several days back. He sighed and wrapped his arm around Jess. He wanted normal, safe...and apparently, this is what normal people did. "Let's take a look around, maybe get some idea for our own place someday...you know, when we have a house."

"Oh, so now you're Mr. Christmas?" Jess teased, walking along side him from their car to a nearby sidewalk. "We don't have to go this crazy, but I like that you're getting into the holiday spirit. It's just a shame that your family isn't here to enjoy Christmas with us. I'd love to finally meet them."

Sam stopped for a second and took in a deep breath. It was long enough for Jess to notice a change in his attitude. He immediately lost some of his momentary holiday spark. "Jess, I already told you about my family."

"But..." She tried to argue.

"They told me that if I left, I wasn't welcome to come back." He snapped back at Jess and instantly regretted it when he saw her smile fade.

"Sam, surely they didn't really say that." She said, not wanting to believe his family would say such a cruel thing.

He sighed and willed himself to calm down. "Those weren't the exact words, but I'd rather not talk about it. Can't we just enjoy the lights?" He nodded to the street of houses around them.

Jess conceded. "Ok, fine." She let him wrap his arm around her again as they strolled leisurely down the street taking in all the lights and decorations as the last of the rays of sun finally disappeared from sight.

Dean pulled into the Comfort Inn and Suites near the I94 in another part of Kenosha. They had a King suite and he booked it through Christmas. He had no idea what the room was like, but the hotel actually had a lobby and a nice one at that. It was friendly and inviting and clean. The places he was used to usually just had a small, dark office where you checked into your room at a dirty desk.

He walked the clean hallways up to his room. He slid the card into the door and opened it when it beeped. The first thing he noticed was the smell. For once, it didn't smell stale and musty. It didn't smell like sweat and body odors. It smelled fresh and clean. He flipped on the lights and was surprised to see warm colors on the walls and furniture. The bed was made nicely, sheets presumably clean. There were no stains on the beige carpet and the tv remote wasn't hooked to the nightstand on a chain. He set his bag down and moved to the bathroom, giving it a quick once over. The shower was so large, he could probably throw a party in it and it was spotless, the stainless steel water nozzles and shower head shiny. The white towels were folded neatly in a pile on a large vanity in the bathroom and they looked clean as well. He unfolded one and was amazed at how soft they were. Yeah, he was definitely going to be living good for the next few nights.

Dean disrobed and had a long hot shower, before he climbed into the large pillow top bed. The sheets were free of stains and they were even softer than the towels. The down filled pillows felt like clouds under his head and he couldn't help it when he let out a soft moan of comfort. He wished he could afford rooms like this all the time.

* * *

**DECEMBER 24th and 25th**

Sam strolled into his kitchen late in the morning. He'd worked some crazy diner hours the day before and had volunteered with Jess at a local food pantry that was handing out free canned food, free turkeys, and an assortment of other holiday food to those less fortunate, so he'd been pretty exhausted. He was usually an early riser, thanks mostly in part to his upbringing. John always had he and Dean up training before the sun was up. He kind of liked sleeping in sometimes. It made him feel a little rebellious after all those years with his own family.

In the kitchen, Jess had an tray laid out on the counter with an assortment of sandwiches on it. She also had bags of assorted snacks...chips, popcorn, cookies. There was a case of assorted sodas on the floor by the table. Sam raised his eye brows in curiosity. "What's all this?" He reached for a sandwich and she batted his hand away.

"It's for tonight." She replied. "I know my parents won't be here until tomorrow morning, but I thought maybe tonight we could invite a few friends over to celebrate. We could make it a game night."

"And just who were you thinking of having over?" There were a couple of friends of Jess' that he just couldn't stand. They thought Jess was too good for him and constantly talked behind his back about him. He prayed they didn't make the invite list.

"I was thinking Brady, maybe Tom." Jess answered. "Brady was already planning on crashing with us tonight anyways. His family went to Hawaii without him this year for the holiday. Maybe Jamie and Matt too. I mean, you can't invite Jamie without her better half."

The first two were mutual friends of theirs. Hell, Brady was the whole reason they were together. The latter two were friends of Jess and also a couple who were planning their wedding for the spring. He could tolerate them. He actually even liked them. "Ok, that sounds fine with me."

Evening found Dean in a place called the Brat Stop. It was a bar, where supposedly families were welcome, just across from the hotel. There were a couple of families in the bar, but it was mostly singles who had no other Christmas Eve plans. He was eying a red head at the end of the bar, who was obviously one of the bartenders. Not too many customers were usually behind the bar operating the tap. He signaled for her and ordered whatever she had on tap.

"What, no Christmas Eve plans tonight?" She asked, setting out a beer for him.

His eyes roamed up and down her curvy body. "Well that depends on what you're doing later tonight." He shot back with one of his trademark grins.

She raised her eye brows at him. "Me? What do I have to do with anything..." She trailed off, finally catching the meaning of his words. "I actually work until eleven and then Mark..." She nodded to an older man on the other side of the bar. "...takes over until closing."

Dean's green eyes met her brown ones, grin still plastered on his face. "Yeah and what are you doing after shift?"

She smiled back flirtatiously and said. "I could be doing you after shift, but you haven't given me your name or your number." She let her smile fade and walked to another customer a few seats down from him.

Dean slowly finished his beer and had a second and eventually a third. When he was ready to head back to his hotel, he left a tip for the bartender under his empty glass and an old gas receipt with his name, number, and hotel room number on the back of it. He didn't know if she'd bite, but he was fine either way.

He got lucky that night. She didn't even call, showing up at his room at eleven twenty-five. They had wild sex and for a few hours, he didn't even think about Christmas or the fact that he would be celebrating it totally alone for the first time in his life.

* * *

Sam welcomed friends into their apartment in the early evening. Brady showed up with beer, though only half of them were old enough to drink legally. Tom brought chips and homemade salsa. Jamie and Matt brought a tray of Christmas cookies to share and a box of expensive chocolates for Sam and Jess to enjoy later. Their friends also brought games. Aside from a deck of cards and an old chess set, Sam and Jess didn't really have any games.

"The sexy movie star, you know, the one with the great cleavage that was in that movie where she was working as a legal assistant and trying to sue that power company for polluting the water." Brady said. He was on a team with Sam and Tom against Jess, Jamie, and Matt and they were playing a game of taboo. The game involves cards that have a name or word on them that you are trying to get your team to guess and it also has a list of words that you can't use while trying to get your team to guess.

"You mean, Erin Brokovich?" Tom asked.

"No, no...the a..." Brady cut himself off. He almost said actress, but that was one of the words on the card that he wasn't allowed to use.

Jamie had a buzzer and the buzzer was used when they noticed someone of the opposite team using the words on the list that they weren't allowed to. She gave the buzzer a squeeze.

"Hey, I didn't say the word..." Brady argued, giving Jamie a playful glare.

"I think he means, Julia Roberts." Sam said. He'd seen the movie Brady was referring too. Truth be told, he had a little thing for Julia Roberts.

"So Sam Winchester does watch movies..." Matt joked. Sam always came off as very serious and rarely had any spare time between classes and work and spending time with Jess, and often times wasn't up on the latest music or movies.

"I watch a few." Sam shot back.

"Hey, timer's still going." Tom noticed.

"And, now it's out." Jess replied with a grin as she looked down at their score sheet. "Pretty sure we kicked butt."

"Oh really?" Brady didn't believe her for one second, snatching the score sheet out of her hands. He looked at the tallies. "You beat us by one point, I don't exactly count that as kicking our butts."

"Alright, alright, but you still lost." Jess teased.

"Eh, Brady's just a sore loser." Tom shot back as he gathered up all the cards so he could put the game away.

Sam's thoughts drifted to his brother as his friends joked and teased about a game lost. There used to be a time where he and his brother could communicate without even saying words, almost like they could read each others minds. He wondered how he and Dean would do together on a team. Hell, they could just reference memories for most of the cards. They didn't live like most kids or families, but they sure had a lot of shared memories together.

"Sam...Earth to Sam..." Jess said.

"What?" Sam's head shot up, eyes meeting with Jess. "Huh?" He realized the table had been cleared and saw all their friends standing around it with their coats on.

"Everyone's getting ready to leave." She replied.

Sam forced a smile. "Right, sorry guys." He stood from the table. "I'm glad you could all come tonight. Hope you all have a great Christmas."

They all hugged and said their goodbyes. In a matter of moments, the apartment was nearly empty. "So you want to tell me what happened a few minutes ago?" Jess asked as she started pushing all the chairs in around the table.

"I don't know what you mean." Sam shot back, nervously running his hand over his face.

Jess sighed in clear agitation. "You completely checked out for a couple minutes."

"I did?" Sam asked. _'Oh right, I was thinking about Dean.'_

"Yes, you did." She stepped over to him.

"Sorry, I guess I was just thinking about my brother." Sam admitted sheepishly, pushing a strand of hair out of his face. He grabbed a plate from the table to help Jess clean up.

Jess stopped him with a gentle hand on his wrist. "Why don't you just call him?" She suggested. "Maybe he's thinking about you to."

Sam scoffed and pulled his arm away. "I doubt it." He grabbed another plate, stacking it onto the first plate, and walked to the kitchen sink. "He and my Dad are probably lost in a bottle of Jack or Jose right now." He set the plates in the sink. "I told you, holidays weren't really our thing."

Jess grabbed a few things to carry to the sink. "Fine, but just think about calling him, ok?" She set her stuff in the sink. "I'm going to bed. I've got to get up early to get started on the Turkey and my parents should be here around ten."

"Ok, fine." Sam conceded. He stayed up a little longer, finishing the clean up so Jess wouldn't have to worry about it in the morning. On his way to bed, he paused and starred at his cell phone for a moment, debating on wether or not to call his brother, but decided he'd wait until morning.

Morning came and went. Sam and Jess exchanged gifts, him getting her this thin silver bracelet with a charm on it that read 'love always' and she getting him a book on greek mythology that he'd been eyeing at their local book store. She'd gotten the turkey in the oven and eventually her parents had arrived with gifts. They spoke a lot about what Jess was like when she was younger and shared some stories from Christmases past.

Later that afternoon found Jess and her mom cooking in the kitchen, getting everything ready to go with the Turkey...stuffing, mashed potatos, asparagus, dinner rolls, and homemade eggnog. Her dad sat at the kitchen table singing Christmas carols as they cooked. Sam, realizing he never did call his brother, excused himself and closed himself off in their bedroom. He pulled out his cell phone and scrolled through to his brother's number. He lingered on it for several moments, not sure if he really wanted to call or not. He hadn't talked to Dean in several months and he hadn't talked to his father at all since he'd left them for Stanford. He took in a deep breath and finally hit the call button. He put the phone to his ear and waited as it rang.

* * *

Dean awoke to darkness, the curtains of the window in his hotel room blocking out all light. He had no idea what time it was. He rolled over with a groan and realized he was naked and alone. His guest from the previous night was nowhere to be seen. He sighed as he sat up and noticed a note on the nightstand by his bed. _'Thanks for a great time. Have a nice Christmas.' _

A glance at the bedside clock told Dean that he'd slept most of the morning and part of the afternoon away already. He sighed and sat up, shifting his legs over the side of the bed so he could stand and head to the bathroom. He took a quick look at his phone before he finally stood and walked off, noting that no one had called...not even his father. He wasn't all that surprised. He knew he'd be spending the holiday alone and it pained him a little. The Winchesters had never really gone all out on holidays, but he wasn't always alone for holidays. He usually had his geeky, annoying little brother to keep him company.

He quickly shook his head as he reached the bathroom. He wasn't going to think about Sammy and get all emotional. Sam had made his choices. He'd left them. He'd left Dean. "Fuck!" He muttered to himself. "I need a drink." He pissed in the toilet, rinsed his hands at the sink and headed back out into the room where he clamored into some boxers and pants before grabbing a new bottle of whiskey he'd had over by the TV. Maybe he could drown out his thoughts with a little booze and just forget about Christmas altogether.

Dean settled back on the bed and nestled the bottle between his legs. He reached for the TV remote and began to flip through the channels. "Damn it..." He cursed as just about every station seemed to be playing Sam's favorite Christmas movie, except one. TBS was playing a marathon of _A Christmas Story. _He settled on that one, but jolted when his phone suddenly buzzed. He answered it, not even bothering to read the name on the screen. He assumed it was his Dad, or maybe just hoped it was.

"Yeah..." He said.

"Dean?" Came a familiar voice, one he hadn't heard in a while.

Shocked, Dean pulled the phone away long enough to read the name and number on the screen. "Sam?"

"Uh, yeah Dean." Sam replied. "I, uh, was calling to say Merry Christmas and see what you and Dad have been up to."

"Oh..." Dean wasn't sure what to say back. He was still in a mild shock. Sam hadn't called in a long time. They'd barely spoken at all since the kid had left for Stanford almost two years ago.

"Maybe I shouldn't have called..." Sam trailed off. "This was stupid."

"No, wait." Dean said. "Thanks for calling. Merry Christmas to you to. What've you been up to out at Stanford?"

"Well, I've been seeing this girl and she's got us doing all this Christmas stuff..."

"Wait, like real Christmas stuff?" Dean asked.

He could tell Sam was smirking just by the way his answer came out. "Yeah and it's been pretty great actually." Sam seemed happy.

"That's, uh, real good Sammy."

"I've been thinking about you and Dad though." Sam said. "I imagine you've got some random Christmas movie on and a bucket of extra crispy on the table. Dad's probably nursing some tequila with his chicken."

Dean's eyes roamed around the empty room. He hadn't even heard from his Dad, not in a few days anyways. He didn't have the heart to tell Sam though. "Yeah, he's around here. He's been tinkering around with his truck for a couple hours now."

"Is he still mad at me for leaving?" Sam asked nervously. Hell, he wondered if Dean was still mad at him.

Dean sighed and rubbed a hand down his face. "I honestly don't know. He doesn't really talk much about it."

"Oh..." Sam didn't sound surprised.

"So tell me, little bro..." Dean started with a smirk. "There lots of hot chicks at Stanford?"

"Uh, well..."

"Who are we kidding, of course there are." Dean answered himself. "It's sunny California. Hot chicks are probably everywhere."

"Yeah, you'd like it." Sam offered.

"Well, maybe I should come out there." Dean didn't even realize what he was saying until he was finished talking. He missed his pain in the ass little brother.

"I'd like that Dean."

And so it went from there. Dean was making mental plans to see Sammy, while they talked about anything and everything. He learned about Stanford, about Sam's job at the diner, and Sam had learned about some interesting hunts that Dean had been on with their Dad since he'd left for school. They'd had so much to catch up on that Dean completely forgot the bottle of whiskey he was planning on drowning in.

* * *

When Sam and Dean were finished talking they ended the call with a "Merry Christmas, bitch" followed by a "Same to you, jerk." That was Sam's first real Christmas and hopefully the first of many, though he wanted his brother there for the next Christmas. It just wasn't the same without him by his side.

Unfortunately he wouldn't have another Christmas like that again, but he would have Dean and somehow Dean was always enough.


End file.
